


Temperamental Elemental

by CarsonEd82



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Avatar bending elements instead of traditional magic, Draco is not Rowling's Draco, F/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Not a Crossover, non-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 02:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17357063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarsonEd82/pseuds/CarsonEd82
Summary: During the year of Umbridge, Alice Winters (OC) deals with the fallout of Voldemort's return, her attempts to save Draco from becoming his father, and her annoying feelings for her obnoxious Potions partner, Fred Weasley.In a world where the Elementals were hunted to near extinction during Voldemort's first ascent to power, Alice acts as her people's tether into the Wizarding world, a world that has all but forgotten the old magic of the benders. With Voldemort's return, Alice will have to face the renewed hunt of her people, and the brewing war.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snape assigns seats, hostility ensues.

Alice was positively fuming, and she didn’t use that word lightly. She was in her sixth year at Hogwarts, but enrolled in the seventh year of Potions. Potions was her best subject, and she got on quite well with the hook-nosed Professor. More importantly, instead of taking Potions in her final year at Hogwarts, Alice would be able to intern with Professor Snape. She’d been interested in teaching since her second year when she’d carried Cassius Warrington through the class.

However, Alice had made a fatal mistake. The seventh year Slytherins were partnered with the Gryffindors, unlike the sixth years who were with the Hufflepuffs. On top of this, Professor Snape had decided that assigning lab partners was the best way to stop the destruction of the Weasley twins. It was because of this decision that Alice found herself in her current predicament, side-by-side to a boy with fire in his hair and a twinkle in his eyes.

It had been two weeks of this arrangement, and it was becoming increasingly more volatile. Alice ground her teeth, trying to ignore the twin next to her, Fred, and stared at her parchment. She was barely listening to the Potions master explain their lesson for the day. They were making a Volubilis Potion. It was relatively simple, there were certain nuances in heating and cooling the potion at the correct intervals that could make the draught tricky at times. However, correctly made, and the potion could not only change the user’s voice, but actually restore it if affected by a Silencing Charm.

Fred kept stealing sideways glances at Alice, his face scrunched in a hard-to-read expression. George had been lucky enough to be assigned to Angelina, their fellow Gryffindor. The two Gryffindors occasionally sniggered at Fred’s luck, or lack thereof, in being paired with Alice, a Slytherin, who had repeatedly kicked their asses at Quidditch during some mock games last year during the Triwizard business.

Alice pursed her lips and scanned over the list of ingredients for the tenth time. Honey-water…mint sprigs…stewed Mandrake… _oh for heaven’s sake!_

She could feel Fred watching her again, so she muttered quietly, “What?”

Fred seemed to jump slightly at the sudden sound of her voice amidst the bubbling cauldrons and shuffling parchment. He recovered quickly and shrugged. “Just surprised,” Fred said cooly. “I figured the Princess of Slytherville would get a golden pass as Snape’s favorite.”

Alice tried to keep her face clear of emotion, but her jaw flexed with irritation all the same. She had had very few interactions with either twin in the past. The extent of their relationship was related to Quidditch. Alice had been a Chaser on the Slytherin team since her second year. She was very good, and fast. In the five years Alice had been playing, neither Fred or George had managed to land a Bludger on her.

Nevertheless, Fred’s words still managed to get under her skin. What he said was true, half the school, even some of her fellow house, thought Alice had everything handed to her due to her uniqueness as an Elemental. Alice tried to ignore the whispers that followed her, that there was a ‘bender’ instead of a true wizard in their midst, that she received special treatment from Snape, Dumbledore, Flitwick, the list never seemed to end. None of it was true, of course. Alice worked and studied for what she had gained during her time at Hogwarts.

But, people were always going to think what they wanted to think. So, Alice kept her head down and did her work…to a point.

She added the Honey-water to her potion, watched in satisfaction as the liquid turned pink, and sighed. “I’d better have a talk with the Professor then. I’d much rather apply my ‘golden pass’ to never having to look at that orange mop you call hair.” Fred’s ivory hand clenched into a fist around his mint sprigs, crushing them. Alice smirked.

“Well,” Fred hissed in annoyance, “I guess my hair matches my bright and fun personality.” He threw in the crushed mint too early, his cauldron began bubbling thickly and turned mottled grey. Fred didn’t notice the misstep. He continued, “Kind of like how your hair represents your bleak and boring personality.”

Alice screwed her eyes shut for a moment as she tried to ignore the punch to the gut she felt at his words. She bit her lip and didn’t reply, choosing instead to spend the rest of the period in silence. Her potion, which had heated to a pleasant yellow, just let off the sparks marking its completion when the bell rang. With a smile, Alice scooped a sample of her potion into a vial and delivered it to Professor Snape’s desk. He gave her a slight nod of approval before sneering at some other bloke’s potion. Alive hurried back to her desk and avoided looking at Fred, who was determinedly talking to Angelina in a drawl. Alice quickly gathered her supplies and sped out of the room, her book bag gently bumping into her hip as she climbed out of the dungeon.

Two familiar voices called to her the moment she ascended. “Oi!” and “Alice!” She turned to see the faces of Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. Blaise had a wicked smile on his face, and Draco’s sleek hair looked oddly disheveled.

“Hiya, boys. What happened to you, Drake?” Alice fell easily into step between the two.

Draco knocked his shoulder into Alice. “I told you not to call me that, Alley-cat.” Alice glared at him in turn for his use of the nickname. He just grinned at the look on her face and casually slung an arm around her shoulder.

Zabini snorted. “Yeah, Drake, what happened to your hair?”

Malfoy glared at Blaise and removed his arm from Alice’s shoulder. He ran a slender hand through his platinum locks and sighed rather dramatically. “You missed quite the show, darling. Crabbe, to everyone’s surprise as I’m sure you can imagine, is horrid at transfiguration. The crow he was working on became…upset. It seemed to take quite the liking to my glorious hair.”

“Well, it is quite shiny,” Alice said, trying to hold back a giggle at the mental picture forming in her head.

Draco rolled his eyes before continuing, “The damn thing kept dive-bombing me until the Granger brat took it upon herself to transfigure it into a pincushion. McGonagall gave her extra points of course.”

Alice frowned and swatted his arm. “Don’t call her a brat, Draco! You really should be nicer to her, to all of them.” Malfoy rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets, looking exasperated.

Blaise piped up in agreement at this. “I hate to say it, man, but Alice is our elder. Besides, Granger’s not half bad. She saved my ass in Arithmancy more times than I can count last year.”

“Oh, for Merlin's sake!” Draco threw up his hands in annoyance. “Sometimes, I swear I have no clue how you two ended up in Slytherin. It’s disgraceful. All this talk of inter-house cooperation and kindness. Soon, you’ll be sporting Gryffindor ties and giving Christmas decorations a run for their money.”

Alice chuckled quietly, though her mind traveled back to the increasingly hostile exchanges between her and Fred in Potions. Being cordial with Hermione was a far cry from being a friend of the Gryffindor House. She rolled her shoulders and tried to shake Potions from her mind.

“What’s wrong?” Draco’s tone changed immediately as he looked Alice over with his silver eyes. “Something’s wrong.”

“Your powers of deduction are really coming along.” Alice said sarcastically. “Nothing’s wrong, just been a long week.”

Before Draco could argue, Zabini spun and inserted himself between the two, looping his arms around their shoulders. “You know what the best cure is for a long week?” The warm smells of the Great Hall drifted towards them. Blaise sighed happily, “Food. Let’s eat, then see if Montague scheduled practice for tonight. I, for one, could use some Quidditch to forget all this 'learning' nonsense.”

Alice couldn’t agree with the younger boy more, and she let Blaise lead her and Draco into the Great Hall. She had struck up an off friendship with the two of them during her third year and their second year. Although Alice didn’t approve of Draco’s elitist ways, Blaise wasn’t as bad, and she had come to learn that they were guilty of parroting their parent’s views, not necessarily their own. The three of them had bonded over Quidditch, and Alice worked on their behavior. Blaise was the first to stop being such a prick. Malfoy dropped the act entirely around her, but it always returned in full force around the Gryffindors.

Truthfully, Alice believed a primary reason for their friendship was settled in the reality that neither Draco or Zabini’s parents knew about Alice. Her family and the rest of her people lived practically in Antarctica. They had withdrawn completely from the wizarding community fourteen years ago, just before the Dark Lord fell in an attempt to protect themselves. Alice had chosen to return to the community just to play Quidditch and find out what was happening in the wizarding world.

The news that Harry Potter brought back that Lord Voldemort had returned at the end of last year had disrupted Alice’s home into chaos. She had to fight her parents to return to Hogwarts. They still remembered being hunted like animals, and the peace the Elementals found in their new home was fragile and precious to them.

Of course, Alice had never gone into too much detail when it came to her people and their safe haven. But, the sense of danger that had arisen since the Dark Lord’s return rested at the back of Alice’s mind. She reminded herself that Hogwarts was safe under Dumbledore’s care, and therefore, Alice herself was quite safe in the stone halls.

The Slytherin table was slowly filling with students as the afternoon classes came to an end. Alice settled on the bench between Draco and Blaise. Alice turned her focus to the plates of food in front of her, ignoring the nasty look from Pansy before the girl draped her arms around Draco. Blaise let out a snort of annoyance, or disgust, and began to fill his plate.

Alice smirked at his reaction and started to load her plate with the numerous options in front of her: potatoes, chicken, green bean casserole, and, her favorite, glazed carrots. A few familiar faces filled the bench across from her. Alice smirked wider when she caught a look at Crabbe’s hand. It was covered in peck marks from his infuriated crow.

Graham Montague shoved his way in between Draco and Alice. It wasn’t terribly hard to accomplish; Pansy was more than happy to have Draco pressed closer to her, and Graham made up for his lack of height in girth. He was more of a tank than a man, and people automatically made room for him. He shot Alice and Blaise a crooked grin, and tore into a drumstick.

“So,” he said around a mouthful of chicken, “Word is Potter’s friend Weasley is the new Gryffindor Keeper. No idea if he’s any good, but we should get some hours in tonight.” Montague swallowed and took a giant swig of pumpkin juice. “You know, make sure the team’s cogs are oiled and working properly.”

Blaise reached across Alice and clinked his goblet with Graham’s. “My Captain, My Captain, you read my mind. I’ve been itching to get some practice in.”

Alice nodded vigorously. “Yeah. I’d like to forget about all the homework I have for a bit.” She clinked her own glass with Montague’s and Zabini’s and raised it to her lips. “I’m ready to kick some ass this year, win back the Quidditch cup, yeah?”

Graham clapped Alice on the back right as she went to take a sip of her goblet. The force of his giant hand made her spill pumpkin juice down her front. Blaise didn’t bother trying to hold back his laughter at the sight of her covered in watery orange liquid. Graham barely noticed; he was reaching for the platter of steak and kidney pie near Crabbe while shouting slightly, “I couldn’t agree with you more, Winters! That’s why you’re my favorite Chaser. Oh Merlin, are you alright?” He had turned to toss Alice a wink, and noticed her pumpkin juice-soaked appearance. “Blimey, sorry bought that.” He tried to mop her with a napkin.

Alice waved off his efforts. “Let me.” She flattened her right hand and ran it across her robes. There was a slight tingle in her fingers as she beckoned the water particles in the juice out of the fabric. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the pumpkin juice swirling back into her goblet.

Zabini shook his head, watching intently. “That’s bloody amazing. I could watch you bend all day.” Alice blushed slightly and busied herself with her food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware Draco and Blaise are very out of character. This is a Non-Canon story, and it's really more of something that I have had in my head and have wanted to read, so I'm trying to get it out.
> 
> Please leave any thoughts, comments, constructive criticism! My OC is a year below the twins, and a year above the trio/Malfoy & Co.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fred feels guilty, Alice faces an amputation scare. Some Quidditch is practiced along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made up the other Slytherin girls that are in my OC's dorm, and made an accumulated Quidditch team through different names that have been mentioned for the Slytherin team throughout the books. 
> 
> Again, this is a non-canon story.

On the other side of the hall a certain twin was having a difficult time focusing. Lee and George were telling Harry about a particularly nasty prank they had pulled on Filch in their third year. Hermione was attempting to help a flustered Ron with a spell they had been learning in Charms. Ron kept insisting his wand movements were fine, and was slowly starting to lean towards George, Lee, and Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes and took a long sip of pumpkin juice.

  
Fred found his attention wandering, along with his eyes, over to the Slytherin table. They fell, as they did every time, on the raven-haired Alice. His jaw twitched as he watched Zabini roar with laughter as pumpkin juice sloshed all over Alice. She waved off the Slytherin Quidditch Captain’s attempt to dry her with napkins.

  
With a gentle wave of her hand and flick of her wrist, Fred watched in wonder as Alice pulled the juice from the threads of her robes and redistributed the liquid into her goblet. Zabini was watching carefully too, and whatever he said made Alice blush, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. At that moment, she glanced up and met Fred’s eyes.

  
All the air seemed to rush out of him as he stared into her bright blue eyes. Her cheeks seemed to darken further, Fred could feel his own face heating up. She looked away quickly, but not before a flash of hurt seemed to dance across her face. Fred immediately felt like a right git for what he had said in Potions. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands.

  
George noticed his twin’s demeanor and jabbed his side. “What’s this, the King who bested the Princess isn’t celebrating?” George crooned in mock disbelief.

  
Fred groaned in annoyance because now Lee, harry, Hermione, and Ron were looking at him curiously. “I…I just…Winters and I are Potions partners and I won the snapping match of the day,” Fred said lamely. He felt like a petty idiot. Ron joined Lee as he mock cheered for Fred.

  
Hermione, however, grimaced at the twin. “She’s really nice, actually. You all give her a bad rap just for being in Slytherin, and being better at Quidditch than the rest of you.” At this, Hermione rolled her eyes before continuing, “But, she’s not like Malfoy and the rest of them.” Her soft voice hit Fred like a ton of bricks, especially since he knew Hermione was right. Alice was kind and compassionate. She had saved several first years from the wrath of the Slytherins, and she was never pompous about her skill as a Chaser.

  
Fred couldn’t help but try to defend himself, “Anyone who can get along with Malfoy -”

  
But Harry, of all people, cut in. “Well…I think we can all agree Malfoy is a prat, but have you ever watched him when he’s around her? She’s like some off anger management charm for him.”

  
“It’s true, he doesn’t lash out like he normally does. Him and Zabini both are actually bearable around her.” George piped in, seemingly surprising himself at his own contribution to the conversation. His cheeks turned slightly pink and he began eating with a fervor.

  
Fred rolled his eyes at his twin before turning his attention to his food. “I don’t know, we just don’t get along.”

 

* * *

  

Blaise was right, some food and Quidditch was just what they all needed. She gripped the handle of her Thunderbolt VII. Alice cut a wide swath around the pitch. The wind whistled loudly in her ear as she leaned forward, urging her broom to go faster. The Thunderbolt VII was a controversial broom, thought to have sacrificed safety for speed.

 _But,_ Alice thought to herself, _So long as I don’t get hit with a Bludger, safety isn’t really necessary._ It was this line of thinking that flitted through her mind every time she mounted the broomstick. The wild rush of speed when she kicked off the ground was enough to erase any doubts or worries she may have held about the controversy surrounding the make of her broom.

Montague was gesturing wildly to her from forty yards below. Both his arms were swinging like oak branches above his head. Alice grinned and dipped into a dive towards the Captain. Despite his bulk, Graham was quite graceful on a broom, and he was fast enough. He acted more of an enforcer, usually wrestling the Quaffle for a turnover and getting it to Alice or Cassius so they could weave their way to the goalposts.

Crabbe and Goyle were hitting Bludgers at each other, laughing rather stupidly when Goyle whacked one particularly hard and it clipped Crabbe’s broom, spinning him wildly for a moment. Malfoy was bobbing up and down, his eyes darting around the pitch for a glint of gold. Zabini and Adrian Pucey, the back-up Chasers, were hovering near Miles Bletchley. The Keeper was miming something that had the other two boys snickering into their hands.

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled out of the dive. She closed her eyes at the force it took for her to stop level with Graham.

“Thanks for joining us, Winters.” Montague barked at her, all business, and called the rest of the team closer. “Crabbe, Goyle, one of you on each side. Aim at the Chasers, but please, no head shots, right?” The two Beaters nodded. Graham gestured at Pucey and Blaise. “You two, separate. Zabini, stay with Warrington, I’ll go with Puck.” Adrian rolled his eyes at the nickname. It was useless telling Graham to call him by his proper name. “Dragon,” Malfoy smirked at Graham’s chosen nickname for him. Alice rolled her eyes, Montague didn’t notice. “Do Seeker things. And Alice,” Alice straightened up on her broom, eager to start playing. “You’re neutral.”

She nodded, and flipped backwards away from the huddle. Draco circled above them as the rest of the team spread out. Graham raised the Quaffle and shouted, “Right, we’ve got an hour of practice. Whatever team wins, I owe you a round at The Three Broomsticks. Bletchley,” Graham looked over his shoulder to check in with the Keeper. “Ready?” Miles gave him a thumbs up. Graham chucked the Quaffle as high as he could, “LET’S GO!”

It took a fair amount of self control to not shoot after the Quaffle immediately. As a neutral, Alice needed a team to touch the ball before she could act. Miles tensed and began to slowly follow the path of the ball, always keeping in range of the three goalposts. Because Graham hadn’t found a satisfactory back-up Keeper, whenever there was a turnover, the team had to check the Quaffle at the center of the pitch before trying to have a go at Bletchley.

Zabini just beat Pucey for the Quaffle. Blaise dove immediately and passed it to Cassius, dodging Graham’s swipe. Alice spurred herself forward, flying parallel with Warrington as he pelted towards the goalposts. Miles watched them steadily, his broom bobbing slightly in anticipation.

“Here!” Alice shouted. Cassius punched the Quaffle to her, and she swung her left leg in a powerful arc to meet it. It was a good shot, a bit of curve and spin on it sent it shooting towards the farthest goalpost. But, Bletchley was a better Keeper. He jerked slightly backwards then dove forward to adjust to the curve, just slapping the Quaffle clear of the goal. Alice soared away, watching Graham snatch the ball and bring it back to the center, waiting for her chance to swoop into play.

The hour went by far too quickly. Alice tripped into the Slytherin common room, laughing uncontrollably as she took Draco down with her. Though they had changed into their regular clothes, the two were still covered in sweat from the practice. Blaise stepped in gracefully after them, purposefully trodding on the two as he passed. He was in a foul mood after Pucey had bulldozed him off his broom during a particularly aggressive attempt at a turnover.

“Night, 'Bini!” Alice shouted cheerily after his gloomy figure. With a mischievous look, Alice dove her fingers into Draco’s already mussed hair. The blond locks spiked easily with the help of the sweat build-up from practice. 

He shook his head violently in protest. “Get off me!” Draco shoved Alice hard. She laughed again and rolled off of him. His normally pale face was bright right and shining with sweat, and his hair sticking straight up gave him a slightly insane look. He also had a dark streak of dirt across his forehead and left cheek. Draco had been a second too slow to pull out of a dive for the Snitch towards the end of the practice. His broom handle had hooked an edge on the ground and Draco had been thrown clear, but not before caressing the ground with his face.

Alice reached forward and swiped her finger through the dirt. “You sure you don’t want to run up to the Hospital Wing?”

“Nah,” Draco said. He slowly climbed to his feet. “I just need a shower and my bed.” He walked off towards the boys dormitory. Alice remained on the floor, her legs stuck out straight in front of her. “Night, Alley-cat.” Draco called over his shoulder, followed by a long yawn.

“Night, Dray.” Alice called back. Her eyes were burning, and her muscles ached beautifully from the rough antics of their practice. Crabbe and Goyle were getting better and better at aiming. Alice had a close call with a particularly well-placed hit from Goyle. The Bludger narrowly missed her head, and she’d dodged right into one of the curved edges of the goalpost. Her shoulder ached with the large bruise that blossomed after the collision.

She rubbed her tired eyes and slowly picked herself off the ground. The load of homework swam to the front of her mind. With a heavy sigh, Alice made her way to the girls dormitory. Carina was already snoring softly on the far side of the room. Her emerald drapes were open as always; Carina had a streak of claustrophobia in her. Chelsea and Hesper were sitting on Hesper’s bed. They were pouring over a shared letter; the two were cousins. It was often easiest to send one owl to and from home instead of two.

Alice murmured a quiet hello to the girls and made her way to the washroom. When she returned, Hesper was in her own bed next to Alice. She gestured to Alice’s pillow, “A letter came for you. Don’t know how that owl always finds its way here at this hour.” Hesper didn’t wait for anything relating to an explanation. The auburn hair girl closed her drapes, giving Alice some privacy.

Alice didn’t know how the family owl always seemed to find her either, but she had stopped being surprised about the arrival of letters to her dormitory after her second year.

 

_Dearest,_

_Your father and I miss you. We went seal hunting the other morning, but it’s just not the same without you. Frank and Cecelia send their best wishes. If you could send the most recent news with your reply letter, that would be quite helpful. Your father has been talking about heading further into the bergs again. I still disagree with him; we are safe here, and we cannot move until you return to us regardless. Nevertheless, I know your father is afraid. We all are. We remember too much from before, some days it’s like it was yesterday, and the last fourteen years never happened. Stay safe and under the radar. Use your gifts to a minimum. Everything is changing, again, and remember: don’t trust anybody. Life is safer that way._

_Love always,_

_Your mother_

 

Alice reread the letter two more times before she held it aloft over the side of her bed. Fire was difficult for her at times. She had to recall an intense emotion to ignite it. Her parents had always been straightforward about their feelings of trust. It was often misplaced. And after-all, as Alice’s father was fond of saying, only an ally can betray you.

She thought of her parents being chased through alleyways like rats, pushing further and further North, and finally burrowing into the stone and ice to survive. Enough anger and sadness flared in Alice to create a ball of fire in her palm. The letter curled and burned in the orange flame. A pleasant warmth filled Alice, and she didn’t release the fire until the letter was nothing but soft ash. Her hand dimmed and fell into darkness as the it went out. The ash slid through her fingers. She would worry about her homework tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

Potions that Monday was not going well. Alice was beyond frustrated. Her hair was strung up in a tight ponytail, and the sleeves of her uniform were shoved past her elbows. Sweat clung to her brow, and she impatiently wiped it against the bunched up folds of her robe.

The class was supposed to be making a potion similar to the Drink of Despair, it was sort of a second cousin. Unlike the Drink of Despair, which induced panic, pain, hallucination, and thirst, this concoction only created panic and pain. Why they were making such a draught, Alice had no idea.

She stared hard into her cauldron, the forest green liquid stared mockingly back at her. It should be a teal color, similar to the emerald of the Drink of Despair, but diluted with a touch of blue. Fred, she noted with irritation, had completely given up on the complicated potion. He and George had focused their efforts in bewitching a paper bird to flit between the twins. They were working very hard to keep the neatly folded creature out of sight from the hook-nosed Professor.

Alice huffed and tore her gaze from the unchanging potion. Hesper, and Chelsea were half-heartedly poking at the liquid in their cauldrons. Carina and Miles were chucking bits of dragon heart string at Warren and Graham. The latter pair were at least trying to finish the potion, but they seemed to be fairing even worse than Alice.

Professor Snape was pouring over several pages of parchment. Occasionally his face would twist into a sneer and he would scratch something out, or scrawl a comment aggressively in the margins. They still had another thirty minutes to finish the assignment, and Snape seemed wholly unbothered by the lack of success in the classroom.

Determined to move on from the forest green color, Alice studied her text again. The potion required a surprising amount of Lobalug venom, most likely to deter a wizard from healing themselves with magic immediately. The venom would create a deterrence as well as provide a catalyst for the pain. Perhaps if she just added some more…

She quickly measure out a second dose of the venom, careful to not spill any on her bare skin. Alice gently stirred her cauldron while she gradually added the extra dose of venom. A smile built across Alice’s face as she noted, with delight, that the color in her cauldron was beginning to lighten to a beautiful teal.

It was here that disaster struck. Alice leaned over her cauldron, one arm confidently stirring the mixture, and the other lightly pressed on the side of the cauldron to steady it. Meanwhile, George made a particularly dramatic gesture with his wand. The bird spiraled past Snape’s head with a small trill. The Professor turned quickly and Fred darted sideways to catch the paper animal before the Professor identified the source of the disturbance. As Fred snatched the bird out of the air, his arm came crashing down against Alice’s cauldron, and the entire thing tipped over.

It seemed to happen in slow motion for Alice. One moment she was watching her potion lighten to a splendid teal with triumph, and the next she was watching it slosh over the side as the cauldron tumbled off its base. The teal liquid rushed over the left arm that Alice had pressed against the cauldron. It latched confidently to her pale skin, covering her forearm and splashing sporadically up to her shoulder.

For a split second, Alice stared at her doused arm in bewilderment, then a rush of fire erupted through her arm. Alice was shocked to hear terrible scream of agony claw its way up and out of her throat. Panic flooded her veins, clouded her eyes, and blanketed her brain. She shoved the dripping cauldron away from her and fell backwards off her stool. The fire raged in her arm, she could feel the invisible flames feasting on her flesh and lapping at her veins.

There was no sound, or perhaps her screams had deafened Alice. She could feel the ragged flesh of her throat constrict as she released another panicked screech of pain. Finally, a single thought burst through the fog of panic.

 _Water in the Flobberworm Mucus_. Immediately, Alice waved her right hand along her infect arm, extracting the elements that shared properties with water. The pain lessened from a raging, crackling fire, to a smoldering flow of lava. Her vision was becoming clear again, and her ears were now registering the clatter of the class and shouts between the students and Professor Snape beyond Alice’s own screams.

Fred’s obnoxious mop of hair swam into focus. “YOU ABSOLUTE, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, IDIOTIC GIT!” Alice roared before giving into another scream of pain as an icy-hot dagger dug into her arm.

 _Surely the limb would crumble and fall off at any moment._ Alice shook the irrational thought from her mind immediately. She could see the black-robed figure of Professor Snape forcing his way through the crowd of students. Alice’s panic was fading, and she vaguely considered that was something the would need to improve the next time she tried to make the potion.

The dagger was replaced by a sawing, the lava flowing into the cracks created in her bones. The small amount of water she had been able to bend out had not halted the physical effects. The teal liquid was steadily eating through arm. Tears were rolling freely down Alice’s face. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her breathing. Her lungs shook unsteadily as she drew a breath in, then out, in…and out.

She didn’t hear Snape finally get through to her desk, where he promptly shoved Fred out of the way and crouched to examine Alice. She didn’t hear his strained voice bark instructions to Alice, and accusatory questions at Fred.

Instead, Alice was focusing on temporarily stopping the flow of blood to and from her arm. She couldn’t risk the potion spreading to her heart, the pain would surely kill her. It was a trick bit of water bending that had been dubbed ‘blood-bending,’ but it did the trick. Her arm grew slightly colder, but the pain was not as fierce. There was an uncomfortable, blistering, pressure in her arm as the concoction slowly continued eating through her bones. It was a pain Alice could bear, however.

“Miss Winters.” Professor Snape’s voice finally broke through her awareness. Alice opened her eyes slowly, and met his glittering black orbs. At her attention, Snape grabbed her wrist and studied it carefully, taking note of Alice’s right had, which remained taut and tensed as she continued the halt of blood in her arm. The Professor muttered something about venom and blood before turning his black eyes on her again. “Fascinating work.” She managed a small smile, and Snape seemed to relax a fraction at the sign of life in her. “Full marks for the day I think. Weasley!” Snape barked at Fred.

He was still sprawled on the ground where Snape had shoved him in his effort to examine Alice. The twin was ashen faced, and was staring at Alice with frightened eyes. As Alice surveyed her lab partner, she realized with embarrassment that she was surrounded by the horrified faces of her entire Potions class. George was looking uneasily at the entire scene, Angelina looked terrified, and Katie had an iron grip on Lee Jordan’s arm. Hesper was trying to get closer to Alice, and Carina looked close to tears. Chelsea was using to opportunity to have Warren hold her comfortingly, and Graham, Cassius, and Miles all looked terrified.

When Fred finally tore his eyes from Alice to look at Snape, the Professor snarled, “Fifty points - no - one hundred points from Gryffindor. And take Miss Winters to the hospital wing at one.” When Fred didn’t immediately move, Snape’s roared filled the dungeon. “NOW, WEASLEY!”

Fred scrambled to his feet, reaching to help Alice up. She sputtered dramatically, scooting away from Fred. “Professor, really I can take myself -”

“You look like death. I wouldn’t be surprised if you collapse the second you stand.” Professor Snape’s cold voice cut off any of Alice’s attempts to argue.

Alice frowned, clapped her right hand to her left forearm to make sure the blood flow was still halted, and stood defiantly. Immediately, she felt a wave of nausea rise in her stomach, and it took all her self control to not start crying again at the fresh wave of pain that flowed through her arm at the movement. With a curt nod, Alice turned on her heel and strode out of the room.

Once she reached the stone hallway, however, she collapsed against the stone wall, sweat clinging to her brow. The nausea boiled in her stomach. Alice did her best to swallow it down, breathing deeply to settle the reaction. She panted slightly and screwed her eyes shut. Her back stiffened and she pushed herself off the wall as the door scraped open.

An abashed Fred stood in the hallway with her. He was stared at the floor before looking at Alice through his lashed. She snorted in anger and turned to walk briskly down the hallway. She got about five feet before she collapsed again, unable to hold back her gasp of pain.

“Alice, stop!” Fred rushed to her side and attempted to help her up. Alice pushed him away, then pathetically fell back on the ground.

She glared up at Fred. “I don’t need your help.” She lied.

Fred cocked his eyebrow at her and tilted his head, studying her collapsed form. “Clearly,” he said dryly.

The dim light in the dungeon hall made his chocolate eyes glow warmly, and he was smiling rather exasperatedly at her. _He really is quite handsome_ , Alice thought as she glared up at Fred. Her eyes bugged slightly at the sudden thought and she dropped her gaze quickly.

Fred huffed in annoyance, “Honestly, Alice. It’s my fault you got hurt. Let me help you.” Alice sighed in defeat. Her vision was starting to blur from the pain, and she just didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.

The moment she nodded, a pair of muscular arms curled around her back and hooked under her knees. Fred hoisted her into the air as easily as if she were stuffed animal. He rested her against his chest and began walking quickly towards the Hospital Wing.

Alice couldn’t hold on anymore. Her circulation slowly returned, and the pain began to increase. Her head flopped against Fred’s chest. It was warm, and firm, and she could hear the steady thump-thump, thump-thump of his heart. She slipped into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware Draco and Blaise are very out of character. This is a Non-Canon story, and it's really more of something that I have had in my head and have wanted to read, so I'm trying to get it out. 
> 
> Please leave any thoughts, comments, constructive criticism! My OC is a year below the twins, and a year above the trio/Malfoy & Co.


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